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DE RUEHBD #0555/01 3050631
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
R 010631Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3593
INFO RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0020
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0409
RUEHJA/AMEMBASSY JAKARTA 0317
RUEHKL/AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR 0638
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0097
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA 0833
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0030
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 3238
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0491
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

S E C R E T BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN 000555 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SINGAPORE FOR REGIONAL AFFAIRS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/31/2026 
TAGS: PINR PTER BX
SUBJECT: OCTOBER MEETING OF CTAG CHIEFS OF MISSION 
 
REF: REF: (A) BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN 213 (B) BANDAR SERI 
 
     BEGAWAN 518 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Emil Skodon for reasons 1.4 (B, C, and D) 
 
 ¶1.  (S)  SUMMARY:  Chiefs of Missions from G-8 
Counterterrorism Action Group (CTAG) member countries 
resident in Brunei plus Australia discussed following topics 
at their October meeting: 
 
-- CTAG members continue to rate the threat of domestic 
terrorism in Brunei as low, but remain concerned about the 
trans-national threat from terrorist groups based in 
neighboring countries. 
 
-- The Government of Brunei (GOB) has acted on its intent to 
expand intel exchanges on Southeast Asian CT issues; since 
the last CTAG meeting in April, it has shared with Australia 
and France assessments on the situations in Malaysia and 
Indonesia. 
 
-- The GOB appears to have a functioning reactive capacity 
for identifying financial transactions by suspect entities, 
but not necessarily for pro-active investigations of 
terrorist financing; France intends to offer additional 
training related to financial investigations as well as 
cyber-crime. 
 
-- UK and Australia are taking steps to expand police 
training for Brunei, including CT-relevant training.  Embassy 
will work with their missions to share information on 
Bruneians who have received USG-sponsored CT training, to 
avoid duplication and build a shared database of local 
officials who have undergone foreign CT training.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  CTAG Meeting:  Australian High Commissioner Adler 
hosted working lunch for Chiefs of Mission of CTAG member 
countries resident in Brunei, plus Australia, on October 18. 
Besides Australia and U.S., COM's or Charge's from UK, 
France, Japan, and Germany participated.  Agenda focused on 
following up issues raised at the April CTAG lunch (reftel A). 
 
¶3.  (C)  Threat Assessment:  There was no change from 
previous assessment that terrorism threat from Bruneian 
nationals was low, but permeable borders and a large guest 
worker population put Brunei at risk from terrorist groups in 
neighboring countries that espouse creation of a 
pan-Southeast Asian Islamic caliphate. 
 
¶4.  (S)  Intel Sharing:  Brunei's external service (the 
"Research Department" of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and 
Trade) appeared to be actively following up on its desire to 
expand intel sharing with CTAG members, an interest first 
noted at the April CTAG meeting.  Australian High 
Commissioner reported that Peter Varghese, the head of 
Australia's Office of National Assessments, had a productive 
visit to Brunei July 11-12, during which his hosts were 
willing to share assessments of developments in Malaysia and 
Indonesia.  ONA hopes to host a reciprocal exchange in the 
second half of 2007, and is considering assistance to help 
train Bruneian analysts.  French Ambassador reported that 
Bruneians had provided French intelligence with their 
estimate that an average of three terrorist-related transits 
a day occurred across the Sulu-Sulawesi Sea between the 
southern Philippines and the Borneo provinces of Indonesia 
and Malaysia (he provided no details as to source of Bruneian 
estimate.) 
 
¶5.  (C)  Terrorist Financing:  Ambassador informed group that 
GOB had been able to use existing money laundering laws to 
search local financial institutions and property records for 
DPRK assets following passage of UNSCR 1718 (reftel B), 
indicating that it had at least some capacity for intrusive 
investigation of financial transactions by suspect entities. 
CTAG members agreed this was a welcome indication of GOB's 
reactive financial oversight capability, but questioned 
whether GOB had the capacity to launch pro-active 
investigations, particularly when it came to transactions 
carried out through Brunei's Offshore Financial Center. 
 
 
French Ambassador said that his government was reparing to 
offer the GOB Finance Ministry and Bunei Investment 
Authority a traning package focused on money laundering and 
cyber-crime investigations.  This was motivated in part by 
the likelihood that a second large French bank might begin 
operating in Brunei before the end of the year. 
 
¶6.  (C)  Border Control and Police Training:  Ambassador 
reported that GOB would introduce a biometric passport in 
order to comply with Visa Waiver Program requirements, but 
not until early 2007.  He also briefed group on GOB 
delegation's successful border control consultations in U.S., 
carried out in July under auspices of ATA and DHS, and on 
recent CT-related training provided at APCSS in Honolulu and 
ILEA in Bangkok.  UK High Commissioner said HMG intended to 
offer GOB more police training courses at the UK Police Staff 
College in Bramshill, focused primarily on strategic law 
enforcement management including CT issues.  In addition, UK 
authorities had briefed GOB Internal Security Department on 
the London underground bombings and subsequent 
investigations.  Australian High Commissioner reported that 
Australian National Police is thinking of signing an MOU with 
GOB to regularize the training that it has been providing to 
Brunei for some time on an ad hoc basis. 
 
¶7.  (S/NOFORN)  Comment:  The GOB desire to expand intel 
exchanges, including on CT-related issues, extends to the USG 
as well.  Acting head of GOB External Service recently told 
Ambassador that he wishes to place a liaison officer in 
Washington.  (This information was not/not shared with other 
CTAG members in Brunei.) 
 
¶8.  (C)  Comment continued:  In light of UK, Australian, and 
French plans to ramp up training in financial transaction 
monitoring, cyber-crime, and police supervision, Embassy 
plans to share with their missions here the names of 
Bruneians who have received similar CT-related training 
sponsored by the USG.  We will encourage them to do the same 
with us as their training programs expand.  This should allow 
us to avoid duplication and build up a shared database of 
Bruneians who have received foreign training in CT-related 
skills. 
SKODON